The Edinburgh Interviews 2017

The Edinburgh Interviews 2017: Tom Skelton

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© John Cairns

Character comic Tom Skelton’s latest show, Blind Man’s Bluff, is an energetic whistle-stop tour of the most famous visually impaired people in history, coming from a man with partial sight himself. Skelton will be performing this show at the Underbelly Med Quad throughout August.

1) What excites you most about the Edinburgh Festival?

The intensity and the proximity: so many great shows and things to see and do within such a confined space. I feel so alive at the Fringe. And at a certain point, half-dead.

2) What was your first Edinburgh show about?

My first solo venture was Foolball, the history of the greatest football club that never existed – Red Star Belgravia, a communist club founded by Karl Marx when he lived in London. It was more a silly history of Britain since about 1860 through the lens of football, in which I played all the characters and struggled to change costume. An aspect of my comedy I have retained two years on.

3) Does your comedy attract a certain type of audience?

My Mum and Dad say they like it…! Apart from that, I can’t be too accurate about demographics because I am partially sighted and can never see them too well, but each does have a theme, which attracted football-lovers to Foolball in 2015, political dystopians to the Orwellian 1984 homage 2061 in 2016, and hopefully blind people to 2017’s Blind Man’s Bluff.

4) What is the worst experience you’ve had with Edinburgh accommodation?

The worst was either the whole month sharing with five other sweaty alcohol-fuelled students, in which the thick air grew generally rancid, or perhaps the three nights when the room I was staying in for the month with two other souls squeezed in three more on the floor or in the gap between the bed and the wall (including one person’s girlfriend – now wife, somehow after that weekend’s intensely fetid stench). It was not ideal.

5) What is your most treasured memory of your comedy career so far?

I kept thinking that an audience member was laughing like Henning Wehn, and then as he was leaving my partially sighted eyes thought ‘it could be’ and I said ‘are you Henning Wehn?’ He said, ‘yes’. I said, ‘you are really, really funny’ and he replied, ‘you are funny too’! That sent me over the moon.

6) What show will you definitely be seeing at the festival this year?

Hammerhead by Joseph Morpurgo. I have loved all of his previous shows, and I think he is just very funny and good.

7) What do you hope to gain from the Edinburgh Festival this year?

A daily rush of endorphins of an audience laughing at me and my sillier jokes. That is all I want!

8) What do you imagine your last ever show will be about?

Ooh, I would hope to still be doing this for a long time. So maybe it would be a character comedy parody of William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying. But that might be a bit sad, so maybe I should say this year’s one, Blind Man’s Bluff, so that more people might come to see my last ever show…!

BOOK TICKETS FOR TOM SKELTON: BLIND MAN’S BLUFF, AT THE EDINBURGH FESTIVAL

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2017

The Edinburgh Interviews 2017: Charly Clive and Ellen Robertson (Britney in: John)

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Charly Clive and Ellen Robertson make up Britney and they are now bringing us John, an exploration of American stereotyping entertained by us Brits that sees the pair hunt down John Hancock; an apparent epitome of the typical American man. They will be performing this new show at Bedlam Theatre throughout August.

1) What excites you most about the Edinburgh Festival?

No bedtime!!!

2) What was your first Edinburgh show about?

Our first show was titled ‘Britney’ and was a narrative sketch show depicting the true story of us (Ellen and Charly) going through Charly’s battle with a brain tumour which we lovingly named Britney.

3) Does your comedy attract a certain type of audience?

All types. Are there some wronguns? Sure. Sure there are. Are there some rightuns? …. Are there?!

© Kate Burns

4) What is the worst experience you’ve had with Edinburgh accommodation?

Well it’s only our second Fringe together so no horror stories yet. Fingers crossed this year is our year.

5) What is your most treasured memory of your comedy career so far?

Most of our treasured memories have been ruined in one way or another by Ellen’s farts.

6) What shows will you definitely be seeing at the festival this year?

Sarah Kendall, Two Plus Ones, Goose, Evelyn Mok, Phil Wang, Sara Pascoe, and, of course, Peter and Bambi Heaven. Too many to name.

7) What do you hope to gain from the Edinburgh Festival this year?

Some decorum? A shred of decency? We’re gonna gain weight, babe. Greggs for breakfast, Greggs for brunch, Greggs for a snack and Greggs for lunch.  

8) What do you imagine your last ever show will be about?

It’ll be grand. It’ll be grand and that’ll be very much by design. ‘Grand Designs’.

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THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2017

The Edinburgh Interviews 2017: Dave Bibby

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Stand up Dave Bibby is performing his debut show Nobody Puts Bibby in the Corner at this year’s Edinburgh Festival. The show is a showcase of sketches, improvisation and storytelling, with a variety of comedy characters and accents to delight audiences. Dave will be performing at Underbelly, Cowgate throughout August.

1) What excites you most about the Edinburgh Festival?

There is still that little spark about the place every year where someone comes out of nowhere to get people excited. I mean, for every one of these there’s 50 people who have paid their life savings to a PR ‘guru’ who has never seen them perform, but like the scene of a tragic event look beyond the hype headlines and you’ll start to see good people on the fringes.

2) What is your first Edinburgh show about?

Nobody Puts Bibby in the Corner is my first solo venture north of the wall. It’s comedy tapas – a mix of storytelling, stand up, sketch, songs and even a little gameshow element as well.

3) Does your comedy attract a certain type of audience?

Drunks. Lots of drunks. Though my show is packed with audience interaction where the audience become the stars – the joke is always on me. So my audiences are fun and increasingly confident. But mainly drunk.

© Fraser Davidson

 

4) What is the worst experience you’ve had with Edinburgh accommodation?

One year we threw a massive house party and my flatmate forgot to mention there was a viewing the following morning as the landlord was selling. An estate agent turned up with a startled young couple and climbed over piles of Edinburgh Festival’s most despicable (and unprofessional) sleeping comedians. 

5) What is your most treasured memory of your comedy career so far?

Getting trolled. We (my sketch group Lead Pencil) performed live from the prestigious BBC Festival stage for Radio 4 and got our first Twitter troll. I have a section in my show where I put some abuse on the screen from 10 years of #showbiz. But there’s nothing like your first random troll to make you feel like you are making it – nobody trolls nobodies.

6) What show will you definitely be seeing at the festival this year?

Spencer Jones does The Herbert in ‘The Audition’. He’s my fave dickhead. Also some amazing one woman shows to look out for – ‘Victim’ at The Pleasance and a little known show called ‘Fleabag’ at Underbelly.

7) What do you hope to gain from the Edinburgh Festival this year?

Weight.

8) What do you imagine your last ever show will be about?

It will be called ‘Hasta La Vista Bibby’ and will be a one-man retelling of ‘Labyrinth’ with a finale where I reach out and touch David Bowie in Heaven like The Creation of Adam… except I die at the end. Every day for a month.

BOOK TICKETS FOR NOBODY PUTS BIBBY IN THE CORNER AT THE EDINBURGH FESTIVAL

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2017

The Edinburgh Interviews 2017: Enterprise’s Christopher Carley

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Christopher Carley is a stand up comedian and actor, who is performing in a play entitled Enterprise during the festival this year. This surrealist play is written by Brian Parks, and is about four businessmen scrabbling to save their financial stability for the future. Enterprise will be at Assembly George Square throughout August.

1) What excites you most about the Edinburgh Festival?

I’ve wanted to work at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe since I was a college student. And now I’m a married adult, with two children and a dog who never stops barking. Sure, it’s exciting to perform in a play and do stand-up at the same time, but just the opportunity to get away from these people is enough. If it were a prison sentence with a 100% haggis diet, I’d still be going.

2) What was is your first Edinburgh show about?

The play is titled Enterprise. When I asked the production team what it was about, they said “With their corporation on the brink of collapse, four panicking businessmen have one desperate night to save their futures. Emergency proposals, email hacking, animal sacrifice – will any of it work?” I thought it would be more powerful if it was one panicking businessman, but the other actors keep saying “their” lines and the director doesn’t seem to have the balls to do anything about it. As far as stand-up, I try to cover the entirety of my life experience: working w/ Clint Eastwood, parenthood, anxiety, being the son of a NYPD homicide detective. And of course the many, many, many, many, many, many times I’ve shit my pants. Many, many times.    

3) Does your comedy attract a certain type of audience?

People in the midst of a panic attack, self-medicators, habitual cringers, leprechauns, and lonely swim suit models.

4) What is the worst experience you’ve had with Edinburgh accommodation?

Windows in our flat. I’m not meant for daylight.  

5) What is your most treasured memory of your comedy career so far?

Following Greer Barnes, just like one of my other comedy icons, Bill Burr: “I Can’t Follow Greer Barnes” – Splitsider 

6) What show will you definitely be seeing at the festival this year?

I know a bunch of people involved in the production of Mary Go Nowhere, so I’ll definitely see that, just to see if it goes anywhere.

7) What do you hope to gain from the Edinburgh Festival this year?

I want to win dammit!! And when I do, I’m not gonna’ share. I’m gonna’ eat it all by myself and not tell anyone.

8) What do you imagine your last ever show will be about?

My first professional job was on Broadway in Martin McDonagh’s Beauty Queen of Leenane directed by Gary Hynes. My last role will be the title role in Darby O’Gill & The Little People. It’s hard to remake a classic, but I’m not afraid.

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THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2017

The Edinburgh Interviews 2017: Kae Kurd

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© Steve Ullathorne

Kae Kurd’s debut show centres around the comic’s personal history, being part of a family of political refugees who fled Saddam Hussein’s brutal regime and settled in the UK. The show, entitled Kurd Your Enthusiasm, will be at the Pleasance Courtyard throughout August.

1) What excites you most about the Edinburgh Festival?

The prospect of hoards of people coming to see me in their droves. White, Black, Asian, Muslim, Jew, Christian, all in their various different shades and beliefs coming and paying good cold hard cash in order to make sure I succeed and become the next best thing. On a serious note, the fact that you stay up so late and things are still open, I love the fact you can go to Palmyra on Nicolson Square at 3am and get a Pizza.

2) What is your first Edinburgh show about?

My Edinburgh show explores my life as a refugee and immigrant and my upbringing in South London all amongst the backdrop of current affairs and themes. It’s my truth and my life with a lot of opinions and theories. Come and laugh and take away something as well. 

3) Does your comedy attract a certain type of audience?

People that aren’t easily offended I think – so in essence really cool people. I hate when people get offended on others’ behalf, you might as well walk into A&E completely healthy and complain to the staff about waiting times. I think that’s the beauty of stand up comedy, it’s the one medium where opinions can be shared without censorship, but the moment the performers start to edit things out or they start to pander to audiences we’ll be going down a slippery slope. I like to think I get a young, intelligent audience that like my stuff. 

4) What would be your worst Edinburgh accommodation nightmare?

I think my worst accommodation nightmare would be what I’ve seen a few other comics do where they share rooms, some of them didn’t have a bed to stay on and were sleeping on a floor for the month. Meanwhile not everyone had a key so they’d have to leave the house in turns or together. Some people I’ve heard of have had mice staying with them and not paying rent. I’ve seen ceilings fall in in some people’s houses. I’ve been lucky with accommodation, I was staying at a hostel in a single bed, but even that was okay. 

5) What is your most treasured memory of your comedy career so far?

Probably playing at the Hackney Empire. It’s just a great feeling hearing that wave of laughter come back at you.

6) What show will you definitely be seeing at the festival this year?

I’m going to see Dane Baptiste, Tez Ilyas, Alistair Williams – there’s a lot more, that’s just off the top of my head. I always end up seeing a lot of stuff just by luck when I’m up there as well or on word of mouth.

7) What do you hope to gain from the Edinburgh Festival this year?

I really just want to have a successful show that people come to an enjoy. I want to play to full rooms essentially, make me feel loved, people.

8) What do you imagine your last ever show will be about? (If you dare imagine!)

Kae Kurd – The Last Word. 

It’ll be my retirement show – my last ever tour. It’ll finish with a massive show at the o2 arena, I’d have rappers, actors, everyone in the crowd. It’ll be an autobiographical show about how my life has panned out and become the way it is and my view on the world. The fact that we got rid of the royal family, Beckham is now prime minister, Ant and Dec have broken up and have rival chat shows on bbc1 and Itv1. In a completely unforeseeable turn of events Piers Morgan converted to Islam before he died and become really popular and how Changing Rooms had come back but it was just rival robots re-doing people’s houses with the frozen head of Handy Andy presenting the show. Reviewers gave it 4 and half stars as they said my performance had got lacklustre as I’d got older but my writing had remained sharp.

BOOK TICKETS FOR KAE KURD: KURD YOUR ENTHUSIASM, AT THE EDINBURGH FESTIVAL

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2017

The Edinburgh Interviews 2017: Helen Duff

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© Matt Highton

Helen Duff is a comedian who specialises in clowning, and she has a lot of exciting things going on this year, from getting to the final of Amused Moose New Act Awards 2017 to starring in the film Holmes and Watson, due to be released next year. Helen will be performing her new show When The Going Gets Duff at Assembly Roxy throughout August.

1) What excites you most about the Edinburgh Festival?

So much! I’m a one woman adrenaline sluice when it comes to the Fringe; my body’s on red alert as soon as I smell buttery hops on the air. This year I’m backing myself to take some big risks with free form movement, weaving it through my anecdotes to make my body a more explicit part of the conversation.

2) What was is your Edinburgh show about?

It’s a real tapestry of experiences, all tied together around the tantric shaman that I went to see at the beginning of this year and the ways in which that sparked my synapses. Also, I do a bit of swimming through slippery fish.

3) Does your comedy attract a certain type of audience?

I really like the variety of my audiences. I get them involved because I think it’s a waste of a live performance to pretend they’re not present, and I’m not interested/confident/contained enough in myself to sustain a show without their occasional input.

4) What is the worst experience you’ve had with Edinburgh accommodation?

I once walked past a mattress abandoned next to some bins and felt it would be better than the student theatre flat I was living in with 6 to each room and a microwave that must have been a masochist.

5) What is your most treasured memory of your comedy career so far?

I feel very lucky to get to do comedy, it’s helped me feel much happier in myself and I’ve met some really inspiring sorts – like the Weirdo’s comedy collective held together by the endlessly inventive Adam Larter, who has a show at Heroes of The Fringe, and Ben Target, also at Heroes, who makes my mind smile (as well as my face).

6) What show will you definitely be seeing at the festival this year?

John Kearns is a master and I want to shake my legs to get the laughter out when I see his shows.

7) What do you hope to gain from the Edinburgh Festival this year?

I’m through to the Amused Moose New Act of the year competition on the 14th, and I have no idea how I got this far, so it already feels like I’ve made a massive leap. I would be happy to make a fool of myself in the final, just as long as it’s in a way that other people enjoy.

8) What do you imagine your last ever show will be about?

My goodness! I would love to plunge my fists into two pots of paint in an entirely white room, with white walls, a white shag carpet and a white Dulux dog, throwing the paint about in artful arcs and wobbles, maybe there’s some music playing – I’m sure by then I’ll know a fiery classical track. Each audience member gets a thin paintbrush and a part of the wall, then they make the beautiful mess into a story with whatever they weave in between. I wonder if we could find a new space to paint for every show?

BOOK TICKETS FOR HELEN DUFF: WHEN THE GOING GETS DUFF, AT THE EDINBURGH FESTIVAL

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2017

The Edinburgh Interviews 2017: Siblings (Maddy and Marina Bye)

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The sketch duo Siblings is made up of sisters Maddy and Marina Bye, and the pair are bringing their debut show to the Edinburgh Festival this year, described as ‘suitable for anyone who has or has seen a sister’, so it will probably be right up your street. They will be performing at the Gilded Balloon Teviot throughout August.

1) What excites you most about the Edinburgh Festival?

Having absolutely no idea whats going to happen over the next month… We have quite a late show this year as well so we are slowly but surely preparing ourselves for the lack of sunlight we will experience for a month and the unknown feeling that we cant really prepare for is something that’s very sexy and exciting. Another thing we are excited for is the Scottish air… Scottish air beats all… so yeah, the Scottish air.

2) What was/is your first Edinburgh show about?

Siblings is about two real life sisters who let go of any flicker of dignity and attractiveness to make the most ridiculous character comedy show, plucked from their inner childhood minds. One drama school graduate and one clown school graduate, one short, one tall, one funny, one not, both absurd, performing characters from all over the globe. We want people to leave and disco HARD because they are so pumped and happy after seeing two fools bring destruction to the stage.

Siblings

3) Does your comedy attract a certain type of audience?

Not really… So far our audiences have been amazing. We have had a half naked boy with an anarchist tattoo slapped across his thigh to an older guy with a ‘I heart tofu’ badge on and a fold up bike on stage with us, both enjoying the same moments just as much as the other. People who are up for entering into a completely absurd world tend to enjoy our show most, usually expecting your standard sketch show but leave a bit shaken and confused. There is nothing better than the “what the fuck is going on” laugh. 

4) What is the worst experience you’ve had with Edinburgh accommodation?

Maddy – 2 weeks before performing for the month at the Edinburgh Fringe 2015 I had a break up with a fellow performer who I was not only sharing a house with… but also a show. Let’s just say it was an awkward month. 

Marina – My friend and I stayed in Edinburgh and shared a bath together, she was drunk and pissed in it. 

5) What is your most treasured memory of your comedy career so far?

Finding out we were able to do comedy with a sister… Honestly never expected in our wildest dreams that this would ever happen, but we threw ourselves on stage at an open mic together and performed probably the worst piece of comedy at the Fringe. But! We realised we had something indestructible between us on stage and thus… Siblings was born.

6) What show will you definitely be seeing at the festival this year?

There are FAR too many to choose from, we have already got our highlighters out on that Fringe guide. If we had to choose one it would probably be Spencer Jones’ new show The Audition. We are his biggest fans. 

7) What do you hope to gain from the Edinburgh Festival this year?

Bigger balls, failure, success, nail the Scottish accent… and some audience members would be nice. 

8) What do you imagine your last ever show will be about?

Marina – We will probably be in space and will be in space suits because Planet Earth collapsed. The comedy will be tricky because they won’t see our faces through to suits. so I imagine a lot more physicality from the both of us to emphasise emotions more clearly through a large suit and a lack of seeing the facial expressions…

Maddy – Yes.. That. 

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THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2017

The Edinburgh Interviews 2017: Sunil Patel

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© Rob Greig

Sunil Patel is a comedian who certainly seems to be a safe pair of hands. He is a calming and confident presence on stage, which makes it no surprise that he was nominated for the BBC New Comedy award in 2012. Sunil will be performing his free show Titan at the Laughing Horse @ The Counting House throughout August.

1) What excites you most about the Edinburgh Festival?

I’ll be living with Dave Green and Benji Waterstones, the two most placid men in comedy/the world, so I am looking forward to psychologically bullying them to breaking point.

2) What was/is your first Edinburgh show about?

Juicer? It was about my juicer. And also I asked my female friends for a lot of my character flaws and then I addressed them all (except the one about my head looking the same if it was upside down – I cannot do anything about that).

3) Does your comedy attract a certain type of audience?

No, thankfully it attracts all ages/sorts of people so keeps me on my toes in case I try and do too much material about mid-late nineties hip-hop or Tamagotchi’s.

4) What is the worst experience you’ve had with Edinburgh accommodation?

I’ve always been fine, I don’t know what you’re thinking if you’re sleeping in a kitchen for a month or something. Have some self-respect and pay for a room of your own.

5) What is your most treasured memory of your comedy career so far?

I lived with Richard Todd in Edinburgh 2014 and he fell over in our kitchen and then did a little fart out of shock.

6) What show will you definitely be seeing at the festival this year?

Richard Todd – Monsters. In the hope he has a fall.

7) What do you hope to gain from the Edinburgh Festival this year?

A ton of $$$ and a nagging sense that now I have crushed my enemies there is nothing else to live for.

8) What do you imagine your last ever show will be about?

Good question. I hope it’s hopelessly out of touch with the public because my enormous success would mean I only address such concerns as “Wow I’ve bought 10,000 pugs, do you guys also have too many pugs?”.

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THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2017

The Edinburgh Interviews 2017: Ellyn Daniels

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Ellyn Daniels’ new Edinburgh show is about how she finds inner peace in a frantic and demanding world through performing stand up comedy. Whether through her work as a ballet dancer or model, Daniels unpicks her past struggles with mental health in an honest yet humorous way. She will be performing at Just the Tonic at The Caves throughout August.

1) What excites you most about the Edinburgh Festival?

I am most excited about being able to perform my own show every night for 22 nights and being able to see lots of other artists performing in my free time.

2) What was/is your first Edinburgh show about?

My first Edinburgh show is called “Emotional Terrorism” and it’s about emotional abuse, hypochondria, bulimia, sex, my relationships with and to men, the loss of a dream, the loss of innocence, shame, alcoholism, a desperate search for validation, failure, insanity and redemption.

3) Does your comedy attract a certain type of audience?

I’m not sure. I think my most recent stand up has connected much more with female audiences than anything I’d done prior. “Emotional Terrorism” seems to connect with a broader range of people than anything I’ve ever done, but I haven’t identified any specific type of audience that I attract.

4) What is the worst experience you’ve had with Edinburgh accommodation?

Showing up and finding out my reservation never went through and I have no accommodation and having to beg Just the Tonic to let me sleep in the venue.

5) What is your most treasured memory of your comedy career so far?

Walking away from Backyard Comedy Club in Bethnal Green after having performed this past January, heading towards Whitechapel tube station and suddenly realising that I used to walk to Whitechapel tube station every day for a year when I was 19 studying dance in London (and living in Whitechapel), and at that time I never imagined I would one day perform stand-up comedy for a huge crowd of people on a Saturday night just up the road. I couldn’t have named one stand-up comic at that time. I knew absolutely nothing about it. To be honest, I was a depressed, alcoholic, bulimic teen and I wasn’t sure I’d be alive in 10 years. It was such an amazing moment walking away from that club, because I realised our perception is so limited and we cannot see what kind of wonder the future holds, but we can believe in it.

6) What shows will you definitely be seeing at the festival this year?

I will see Lauren Pattison’s “Lady Muck” and Maria Shehata’s ‘Wisdomless”. I haven’t had time to browse through and mark every show I feel I need to see, but I know I will watch both those women.

7) What do you hope to gain from the Edinburgh Festival this year?

I hope to get deeper into my show and the emotional nuances of the performance and to connect with audiences, make them laugh and leave them feeling inspired. I hope to meet other artists and watch their work and leave feeling motivated to continue creating.

8) What do you imagine your last ever show will be about?

I think my last show will be about fear, and what life could have looked like without it.

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THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2017

The Edinburgh Interviews 2017: Margaret Thatcher Queen of Game Shows

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© Andy Hollingworth

Old Maggie Thatcher has taken the Edinburgh Festival by storm in the last few years, and is bringing her new audience-participation show Margaret Thatcher Queen of Game Shows to the Assembly George Square Gardens this summer. As well as this, she is hosting a club night, Margaret Thatcher Queen of Club Nights, which will be at Assembly Checkpoint throughout August.

1) What excites you most about the Edinburgh Festival?

That’s easy. Chips, curry sauce and a battered sausage from Central Fish and Chip shop at 4.30am on a Friday night. It’s the perfect way to end an evening. Oh, and the shows too of course.

2) What was  your first Edinburgh show about?

My first show was called Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho and it was all about how I went from being Prime Minister of the UK to a global cabaret superstar. Although I had done a one nighter a few years earlier when I was Prime Minister… It was called the sermon on the mound.

3) Does your comedy attract a certain type of audience?

I have a very broad and diverse audience, dear. Though I must admit the Tories don’t always like it.

4) What is the worst experience you’ve had with Edinburgh accommodation?

One of my backing dancers came in late one night, put some chips and fish fingers under the grill and then went to sleep at the kitchen table. One fire alarm, a number of fireman and a trip to the hospital later and everything was fine, but there were a dicey few minutes when some late night fish fingers could have been the end for Maggie!

5) What is your most treasured memory of your comedy career so far?

I had a wonderful time at Latitude Festival in 2014. We weren’t expecting anyone to come, we lost all our sound cues because the director left his laptop out in the rain, everything went wrong technically, and we had to cut half the ending because we were overrunning so badly, but the crowd didn’t care at all. It was the largest audience we’d played to at that point and they were lovely. We expected things to go so badly for us, but they went incredibly well – much like Jeremy Corbyn in this year’s election!

6) What shows will you definitely be seeing at the festival this year?

‘Prom Kween’ by Rebecca Humphries, it’s a wonderful new musical about a non-binary prom queen and features a cameo from Ru Paul (not the real one, alas). Also, it’s produced by my wonderful producer Aine Flanagan. I also want to catch ‘A Super Happy Story (About Feeling Super Sad),’ a lovely little musical play about depression by my collaborator Jon Brittain.

7) What do you hope to gain from the Edinburgh Festival this year?

Money! Lots and lots of money. But after the venue split, agents fees, accommodation, travel, living costs and the entry fees for the various brochures… I guess I’ll have to settle for creative satisfaction.

8) What do you imagine your last ever show will be about?

I’ll never have a last show, dear! I’ll go on and on and on and on! Watch out for Margaret Thatcher Queen of the Universe coming in 2018!

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THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2017